Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Wednesday Morning Links

- Roderick Benns interviews Chantelle Scott about the role a basic income could play in fostering business development:

Scott says she would have preferred to have been able to take some
business courses and learn more before jumping into opening a store –
but she couldn’t afford to wait.

“There is pressure when you are on EI or Alberta Works, and there is
fear. The programs inhibit job growth because you always know you will
lose most of the support if you find a job, and if it is a bad job you
are stuck,” says Scott.

She notes there is no one or no place to help someone find the “right
job,” nor is there opportunity to rest after leaving a very stressful
job.

“You have seven months to figure out your life and it starts
immediately – but you also have six to eight weeks of no benefits, so
you need to already use up your savings before anything has even begun.”

Scott says that a basic income (also called a guaranteed annual
income) would help entrepreneurs survive. “A guaranteed income would
allow me to pay bills, buy food and be able to pay down the start-up
costs of the business, which would eventually allow me to be able to
extend my hours sooner, attend more trade fairs and markets, and hire
staff.”

- Richard Florida discusses the issues raised by concentrations of poverty. Kristy Hoffman writes about a new study showing how food insecurity connects with vastly higher health care costs. And Sophia Harris reports on the inability of more and more people to afford a home in Canada's major cities.

- Tim Abray points out that we should expect particularly strong negative comments in the leaders' debate (and other campaign coverage) to influence voters' choices long after they've forgotten where the messages originate. Which perhaps explains why Stephen Harper has reached levels of paranoia which are worrisome even to Tasha Kheiriddin - and why they're hastily trying to blame unspecified other people doing their bidding for their own choices.